Friday, March 11, 2016

JC Wadiyar to stand tall at Hardinge Circle before Yaduveer's royal wedding

The works on sculpting the statue of late Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar of erstwhile Mysuru Dynasty and proposed to be installed at Hardinge Circle in city is nearing completion.

The works have been put on fast track as it has been planned to unveil it in April before the wedding bell rings at the palace of Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar in the month of May. Instructions have also been given to complete the dome work by next month, where the statue of King, sculpted in white marble will be placed, said sources.

The statue was chiseled and brought to life by the noted sculptor, Arun Yogiraj who hails from a family of sculptors residing in Mysore for the past five generations. The statue was carved out of a monolithic white marble that was imported from Austria by a merchant in Jaipur, from where it was shipped to Mysore.

The statue of last ruler of Mysuru Royal Family when completed stands 10 feet tall, is 6 feet wide and stretches 4.5 feet, while the pedestal on which it is placed measures 5 feet in height and 4 feet in breadth. Arun, grand son of Palace Sculpture B Basavanna, accompanied by 9 other sculptors, has took five months to complete the statue, by working daily for more than 14 hours.

“Before we begin sculpting, we do a detailed study of the anatomical and muscle structure of the person to be carved. Only after making notes right from shoes to the Mysore Peta, the ruler wore, we started the sculpting work. The earlier statutes of Chamaraja Wadiyar and Krishnaraja Wadiyar has been sculpted by artistes from London and Mumbai respectively, using Karora Marble of Italy. This is the first time Mysuru artistes has got the opportunity to sculpt a member of the Royal family, and am happy I got the opportunity,” he adds.

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Arun, am MBA graduate !

Like others he had dreamed of being well educated and joining an MNC company. His wish was fulfilled, but his destination was something else. Arun, an MBA graduate, after completion of education, joined an MNC company. But, he gave up his lucrative job to continue the tradition of stone carving.

One fine day, he realised he had to dedicate himself to sculpting and took it as a full profession from 2008. He has hired good number of people and has handful of orders.

Arun who was assisting his father in sculpting work from the tender age, says: “I have good number of orders and am earning more than, what I would have been if gone for a salaried job. Through dedication, determination we can excel. I was very passionate towards filed and mastered the sculpting techniques,” he adds.

'One of the best moment in life is meeting Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General during his visit to Infosys. He lauded my decision for continue the carrier in sculpture. The government should take initiatives to introduce a course in Temple Architecture and give practical training for students. The stone carving is entirely different and challenging compared to clay, wood carving,' adds Arun, an fith generation sculpture.

He sculptures God and Godess idol, portrait statues, large sculpture works. He gets orders from Netherland, USA, Australia, Srilanka, UG, Germna and several parts of the country. Accompanied with his father Yogiraj Shilpi, he is running Kasyap Shilpa Kalanikethana a school of sculpture and providing training for interested youngsters.

He is conducting classes for students of Shilpa Kala Academy and works as an consultant on concept of Sill Tourism for an Astralia based company. Arun has won several awards including Shilpa Kasturba Award, South Zone Young Talent Award and much more. Arun, an national-level volleyball players has represented Karnataka twice.

Stone Facts

The stones mostly used for creating idols is Krishna Sheele, which is available in this geographical area of HD Kote. The stone

is resistant to Acid-fire-water-rust and all kinds of -weather and can withstand temperature upto 1200 degree.

While, the black granite is found in Chamarajanagar and Doddabalapura stone (worlds hardest stone) used for sculpting huge idols.